By Christy Nuetzman Guffey

Family and Consumer

Sciences Agent

Clinton County Cooperative Extension Service

Officials from a host of government agencies came together last week with several officials and citizens from Albany and Clinton County during a two-day workshop that will hopefully boost healthy living opportunities for all of our citizens living and visting here.

The two-day community workshop focused on the topic of local foods and the potential for strengthening our local economy, supporting healthier people and neighborhoods, and revitalizing our downtown.

Through opportunities made available to the Clinton County Cooperative Extension Service as a result of the CDC Obesity Prevention Grant, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent Christy Nuetzman Guffey applied for technical assistance with the EPA Smart Growth program specifically for the Local Foods, Local Places program.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), US Department of Transportation (DOT), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), and Delta Regional Authority (DRA) selected Albany for the Local Foods, Local Places technical assistance program, which will result in an action plan for strengthening our local food economy.

The workshop brought together many key stakeholders from throughout our region to develop an action plan primarily around, but not limited to, these goal areas:

• Convene a formal, permanent committee or coalition to champion local food initiatives and help promote downtown revitalization;

• Transform downtown Albany into a safe and vibrant place where people want to visit, live and work;

• Integrate ongoing work in pedestrian, bicycle, and walkability planning with fresh food access initiatives to improve community health; and

• Support local producers to promote more farming, greater crop diversity, and increased production of value-added products

Those attending the workshop participated in discussions on the community’s vision and goals, and specific actions for reaching them. The workshop will lay out an action plan for moving forward.

The number of federal partners visiting our community was phenomenal. There are lots of grant dollars and other resources available as we move forward but we need commitment and participation from many more individuals and groups than were present during the workshop.

The final action plan from the workshop will be made available over the next few weeks, but there are steps we can take now to better position our community.

So how can you get involved or help move things forward? There are two specific ways right now.

· Contact the Extension Office if you would like to serve on a committee that will look at the downtown farmers market location and how we can enhance the “square and downtown area”.

This committee needs to include city and county elected official representatives, business owners, producers, tourism representatives, artisans, healthy community champions, youth, etc. Extension staff will lead getting the committee developed, but the leadership will come from within the group.

If you have ideas on changes that would help our downtown area, then consider volunteering for this committee.

The committee will have its first meeting on Friday, September 29th at 11:00 a.m. at the Extension Office.

· If you consider yourself a fruit or vegetable farmer/grower, contact the Extension Office.

We want to expand the Farmers Market Association and create a directory of local vendors.

Whether you sell a little or a lot, we need a better idea of who to include as we create vendor opportunities at the farmers market.

Several people from a host of agencies as well as private citizens came together last week for a two-day workshop as a part of a Local Foods, Local Places program that cultured ideas on how to make healthier living an easier goal for Albany and Clinton County. The program has been made available through an Obesity Prevention Grant from the Center for Disease Control and channeled through the Clinton County Cooperative Extension Service.